Top School for Earning a Doctor of Business Administration

Students interested in publishing research findings that advance business practices and theories often pursue a Doctor of Business Administration. Get ranking and program details for the top schools with Doctor of Business Administration programs.

Here we look at some of the top colleges and universities that offer Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degrees.

School Overviews

Prospective students seeking the best place in the country to earn a DBA may consider enrolling in a doctoral program at Pennsylvania State University, the University of Washington's Seattle campus or Indiana University - Bloomington. Each school has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report for 2017. Pennsylvania State University and the University of Washington at Seattle have also been ranked by The Princeton Review. The programs at each of these universities feature a variety of specialization and course offerings to enrich the educational experience.

Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA

School Highlight: This university has six fields of study in the DBA program.

The Princeton Review listed Pennsylvania State University as one of the best northeastern colleges. It was ranked tied for #50 by U.S. News & World Report in 2017 for best national university. DBA specializations are real estate, supply chain and information systems, management and organization, marketing, finances and accounting. The program is geared towards students interested in researching in the field. Microeconomics, economic behavior, research design and advanced data analysis are all classes taken in this program.

University of Washington-Seattle Campus

School Highlight: The school was listed as one of the best western colleges by The Princeton Review.

U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Washington as tied for #54 on the list of best universities nationwide in 2017. Courses that are expected to be taken by students enrolled in the DBA program are sociological foundations of strategic management, economic foundations, special topics in management research and contemporary research in strategic management. Several areas of study can be chosen that focus on technology entrepreneurship, marketing, accounting, operations management, finances, information systems or management.

Indiana University - Bloomington

School Highlight: According to U.S. News & World Report rankings for 2017, Indiana University - Bloomington, is rank tied for 9th best in business programs. For best national universities, it's rank tied for 86th place.

The Kelley School of Business offers graduate students doctoral degrees in a number of business specializations. Students can choose from 10 areas, including business economics and public policy, operations and decision technologies, management and entrepreneurship, marketing, accounting and finance. In addition to an international business minor, minors are also available in each specialization.

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Top Schools with Doctor of Business Administration Programs

Here are a few more schools that offer some of the best DBA programs, as well as what makes them stand out.

The student-faculty ratio for business doctoral students is 2:1 at New York University in New York, NY.

The business school's research center at the main campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, focuses on subjects like entrepreneurship, business education, operations, innovation and customer insights.

University of California-Berkeley has an Institute for Business Innovation, which includes centers for the research and promotion of entrepreneurship and management and technology, in addition to corporate innovation.

Business administration doctoral students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign can choose from areas of specialization including information systems, international business, marketing, strategy and entrepreneurship, organizational management and organizational behavior.

The business program at the University of Maryland-College Park was tied for 19th in the U.S. News & World Report 2017 list of best business programs.

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities's business school in Minneapolis, MN, tied for #15 in U.S. News & World Report rankings for best business programs.

University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, spends nearly $700 million to fund research each year.

At the University of Virginia-Main Campus in Charlottesville, VA, doctoral students can choose from 4 areas of specialization: ethics, entrepreneurship, leadership in organizations or operations and management science.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison business faculty and doctoral students share and explore research topics at monthly Rays of Research seminars.

DBA programs are offered by a number of schools. When looking for a program, it may be helpful to know what makes one program stand out from the others and how they compare.